Choices
by Sabaku No Natsuo
Summary: Ino nodded but still wouldn't smile..." A story about raising a child in the Yamanaka Clan and finding out that your choices will affect her in the end. InoxSakura, Shojo Ai
1. Choices

**A/n: **So...reading _Brave New World _is detremental to my SasuNaru muse apparently. I can't turn out the rest of chapter 12 to save my life >.o But despite my moving around furniture, you will get chapter 12! I am determined!! So hold tight and enjoy what is going through my mind right now.

**Story: **The Yamanaka Clan was prided for being able to mold other's minds into what they wanted and for their ability to use some one's mind against them. Raising a child in a clan like that is difficult but Hizou knows that everything will turn out just fine if only Ino would smile...

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Choices

Ino stared up at her parents with all the innocence in the world, her eyes wide with childish curiosity and her heart beating soundly inside her chest. Her parents smiled lovingly down at their beautiful daughter as her mouth split into a wide and sweet smile. Today they were going to be telling her the basics of a mind transfer jutsu, despite the fact that she was only five and not yet in the ninja academy. They knew that if Ino had a head start she was sure to shine when it came time to for kids to be kids and show off. She shifted from one foot to the other to pass her boredom silently.

"Ino," Hizou, her mother, said in a soft tone. "Today your father is going to talk to you about our family's signature jutsu."

Bright sky blue eyes lit up, "Really?!" She nearly jumped out of her skin with excitement.

She swayed her body from left to right rapidly to accurately portray her excitement. Her father had told her so much about the mind transfer jutsu, she only dreamed about being able to trade minds with some one else. Ino began to hop a little bit as the intensity built up inside of her. A strong hand sat softly on her shoulder and her father gave her that smile that told her to sit still.

"Sit down Ino," he instructed with a motion to the ground below them.

He had chosen this area of their backyard because there was a patch of soft dirt that could serve as a sort of chalkboard for picture instruction. A spindly white stick lay next to Inoichi's legs as he crossed them to get level with his bouncing daughter. While Ino was obviously excited, he could see her shoulders shake from happiness, she was very good at keeping quiet. He picked up the stick and wrote the jutsu's name in the damp soil. Ino turned her head to read it, since her father absentmindedly wrote it so only he could read it.

"Mind transfer jutsu," she recited quite articulately for a five year old.

With the name out of the way Inoichi began to teach his beautiful daughter exactly how to do the famous jutsu.

* * *

Ino's mother can clearly recall the first time she told her daughter something that would shape her life forever, even if Ino can only recall it as bleary day of innocence.

The blonde child came home from the ninja academy with her father escorting her from the school and through the door to the modest Yamanaka home. She removed her shoes and kept looking at the ground curiously. Something was bothering her, this much was obvious. But it seemed odd because these days nothing penetrated Ino's amazing confidence. While other kids were doubting their strengths Ino was boasting, and rightfully so. She had not yet done a complete transfer she was at the stage where she could hear their thoughts clearly in her ears. So she was a ball of never ending energy that seemed to exude confidence and magnificence.

But on this particular day she was wearing a look of puzzlement and insecurity. Hizou stood in the kitchen, tenderly spraying a mist of water and plant vitamins on her newly bloomed violets. Her ears picked up the sound of Ino's pattering feet and she put down her spray bottle and wiped her hands on the white apron that hung around her waist. Ino came into the kitchen with the expression of a lost puppy.

"What's wrong Ino-chan?" Hizou cooed when Ino stopped in front of her and looked like she was as helpless as the day she was born.

Ino pulled at her hair and her mother's thin fingers batted those tiny fingers away, "Mommy, is it wrong to hold hands with another girl?" she asked more confused than ever.

"Aww baby," she kneeled down to her daughter's level. "What happened today at school?"

The girl in question twisted her wrists every direction in all her confusion, "Today I made friends with a little girl named Sakura and we were walking outside when it was lunch time, she shared her cookies with me, her mom makes really really good cookies," Ino could have gone on forever about sharing lunches and such trivialities but her mother laughed and told Ino to tell her what happened to upset her and Ino nodded.

"And we were holding hands when Iruka-sensei called us back inside but a bunch of the older kids were pointing at us and saying that we were gay…Mommy, what does that mean?" Ino asked in a desperate tone.

Hizou sucked in a large amount of air, how was she going to explain this to a seven year old? It was _far _too early in her life for talks like this. She exhaled and looked back at her poor daughter.

"Ino, do not worry about those kids," she told her child. "They are just mean and will do anything to _be _mean."

Ino nodded but still wouldn't smile, "But you didn't tell me what 'gay' means."

Hizou hoped that Ino would have been distracted by her advice and would have forgotten her question in the process. She took Ino's hands in her own and kissed the small girl's forehead gingerly.

"I will tell you when you are older, for now you do not need to worry about it."

Ino nodded but still wouldn't smile, "Is it okay for a girl to hold another girl's hand?"

Another deep breath, another exhale, "Ino, you will learn that being in this clan means that you will be spending a lot of time in other people's minds. I am not going to tell you who you can and cannot hold hands with because that is something you need to figure out on your own."

Hizou knew that was a bit more dramatic than what a seven year old's question warranted but she also knew that if she started telling her precious daughter that now then Ino would understand it more and more as she grew up.

Ino nodded and this time she smiled as if she knew exactly what her mother was talking about and that what her mommy had said was exactly what she wanted to hear.

Hizou smiled back at Ino and kissed her forehead again and stood to finish watering her violets. Ino turned around with a flare of the orange tank top that was too big for her and headed up to her room to do some of her homework. Hizou stood and finished her work and thought about how difficult it was to raise a child in a clan that was praised for their usage of other people's minds in battle. She knew that she had done the right thing by telling Ino that it wasn't her mother's place to tell her what to think. Since her little girl was going to be in and out of minds as soon as she hit genin, she needed to find out who she was on her own.

* * *

The second time Hizou could remember saying something to change Ino was when her daughter came home holding back tears and biting her lip.

"Ino, I thought you were going to hang out with Sakura," Hizou called from the sitting room.

Ino walked into the room and looked up at her mom for about a second before looking back at the ground in anger and sorrow. Hizou rushed to her and gathered her into her arms but Ino just stood so firm against her mother's body. Repeatedly Hizou whispered 'it's okay' and stroked her daughter's hair.

"She doesn't want to be friends with me anymore!" Ino shouted before a flood of angry and repressed tears spilled out.

"What do you mean Ino-chan?" Hizou knew that even though Ino asked her stop using '–chan' but it comforted her when she was down.

Ino bit at her lip some more, trying to remain strong but failing so miserably (and at the right time for failure), "Sakura! She doesn't w-want to be friends with me anymore because of st-st-stupid Sasuke-kun!"

Hizou took all of Ino into her arms and held her tightly, "It's gonna be okay Ino-chan…"

"No! No! No it's not going to be okay mom!" Ino shouted as she disentangled herself from her mother's embrace. "She thought that I liked stupid Sasuke-kun too!"

Hizou took her daughter's fist and messaged them to loosen them up. If Ino didn't relax those fists she was going to make her palms bleed. But Ino just tore her hands from her mother and stomped a little bit in frustration and the way things were just overwhelming her.

"Could she be any stupider?!" Ino screeched as she gripped her white-blonde hair. "I don't care about Sasuke-kun!" More tears poured out while she said this. "I don't wanna be with Sasuke-kun!"

All Hizou could do was watch her daughter's anguish unfold and bite her own lip to keep strong. If poor Ino saw her mother crying because her precious daughter was crying she would not see her mother as a strong pillar that she could come to at any time.

"I don't care about him…" Ino whispered putting her face into her hands. "I wanna be with Sakura!" she exclaimed without any shame.

Ino sobbed into her hands, tears spilling out onto the bamboo mats and dotting her socks. Her shoulders trembled with the sharp inhales every so often. A few words and phrases were laced in with the tears and pain but most of it was far too incoherent for Hizou to help with.

"Mommy, I-I w-wanna be with S-S-Sakura," she finally pleaded after lifting her face up from her soaked hands. "I just wanna be with her…"

Hizou could see that now she could hold her daughter the way a mother was supposed to in this situation. She pulled Ino into her chest and settled right there in the middle of the sitting room to hold and rock her child's pain away. Ino wrapped her little arms around Hizou's small ribcage and cried hard into the red silk shirt her mother wore. Once the tears stopped Hizou lifted Ino's face to look up at her. Those bright eyes were so full of abandonment and so red and puffy Hizou just kissed her daughter's face before putting a little space between them to talk to her.

"Ino-chan," she began with a heavy sigh. "I know it hurts right now." More silent tears slid down Ino's face at this statement. "But it will all feel better as time passes."

Ino nodded, but didn't smile at this.

"You have to be patient," Hizou said as she rubbed Ino's shoulder rapidly to warm her up. "Everything will happen exactly as it is meant to happen."

Ino nodded, but still wouldn't smile. She thought for a second before speaking, "Mommy, do you think Sakura knows how I feel and that's why she doesn't want to be friends with me?" This sentence of course was not without sniffles and a few streaks of more quiet tears.

"Why would you _ever _say that Ino-chan?" Hizou asked in a tone that said that Ino should never speak like that. It almost sounded like she was blaming herself for who she chose to love.

"No one ever talks about what _girl _they like, Mommy," Ino explained feeling like she was a freak for falling for Sakura. "They only talk about _boys_, but I don't want a boy, I want a girl. Maybe I'm not normal for wanting to be with a girl…" Ino looked at the ground with all the pain and hurt in her eyes and on her sagging shoulders.

"No," Hizou said as she forced her daughter to face her by shaking her a little and holding her face in one hand. "I never want to hear you say that Ino. Your father and I chose to allow you to think and decide for yourself what your beliefs were, it was no mistake. You can love whoever you want. You can wear whatever you want. You can do whatever you want. You are _normal_."

Ino bit her lip to keep it from trembling, and she nodded but still wouldn't smile.

"No one can tell you that you are not normal," Hizou continued with as much conviction as she felt from a deep space inside her heart. "Don't listen to what anyone has to say, just believe in who you are Ino."

If this conversation wasn't about Ino's broken heart Hizou would have laced something about the Yamanaka's mind jutsus in there and about how you needed to be strong in mind to be able to control some one else's. But she just hugged her daughter tighter into her chest and kissed the side of her face.

"Ino, everything will be alright," Hizou restated when they broke their embrace.

Ino nodded and gave a weak smile this time. She walked away from her mom with her shoulders a little higher but still heavy with the fresh wound. Hizou wiped fiercely at the corners of her eyes to keep the prickle of tears away. Her poor daughter had experience her first heart ache at only eight years old.

* * *

The day that Ino asked about love was easy enough to remember. Ino was standing behind the counter at the family flower shop and Hizou was watering the lilies. Ino let out a sigh, it was a slow day and she had yet to be called to a mission with Shikamaru and Chouji. It was one of those days where you just had to sit by idly and let it pass by because there was nothing else to be done. Unconsciously Ino let out another defeated sigh.

Hizou lowered her spray bottle, "What's wrong Ino?" she walked up to the counter and rested her elbow on it to get eye level with her daughter.

"Hmm?" Ino acknowledged her mother.

"You've been sitting her and sighing for the past ten minutes," Hizou informed her as she brushed at long blonde bangs. "What's going on?"

Ino closed her eyes and let out all the air in her lungs, "I'm just so bored. No one's going to come in today."

Hizou smiled at her dear daughter, "I know sweetie but we still have to keep the shop open because there is an off chance that some one might need flowers today."

"I know," Ino replied breathily. "Hey mom, can I ask you something?"

"Anything you want to Ino," Hizou told her as she gave her an encouraging smile.

"Why do I never remember you telling me that love is supposed to be between a man and a woman?" Ino asked with a look reminiscent to when she was a child of only seven, not the young adult of sixteen now.

"Because I never did tell you that, I wanted you to decide what you thought about love on your own," she answered as firm in her convictions as the first time she told Ino.

"But why?" she looked a little damaged by this confession even though she'd heard it many times before.

"Ino," Hizou began. "As you know, being in this clan and being a ninja means having to be in other people's minds so often that sometimes its hard to remember what your mind believes."

Ino nodded but didn't smile.

"Ever since you were little I've been telling you that you need to have a strong mind and the only way that I saw fit to give you that strong mind was by letting you shape your own beliefs on love, life and family," she said with a stern voice to back up what she just stated.

Ino nodded but refused to smile for her mother. Hizou sighed and wiped off the counter with the edge of her store apron.

"Hey, let's close down for a bit and get some lunch in town," Hizou offered with a soft smile on her face.

Ino perked up at this and smiled as she nodded at her generous mother. Hizou patted her cheek and bustled her thin frame around the shop to grab for the keys before motioning for her and Ino to make their way downtown. Ino untied her apron and wadded it up before throwing it on the counter. Hizou rolled her eyes but said nothing to reprimand her daughter for her untidy habits. She noted the sound the dainty bell above their humble shop made when she opened the door to allow Ino and herself to exit.

While they walked toward the downtown area of Konoha Hizou was interrupted briefly a few times so that Ino could wave to a passing comrade or close friend. At one point her beautiful daughter received a hug from the kid who most failed to even acknowledge but he seemed happy enough when he walked away with the Uchiha boy after giving Ino a little bit of loving. Hizou beamed at her daughter, there was a lot of love for her in this village despite how headstrong and loud she could be. She was positive that allowing Ino to form her own beliefs, even when she was so young, was the right decision in the end. Ino had been in the middle of telling Hizou about a mission she went on with the team (there were many moments where Ino had to stop talking in favor of laughing over Shikamaru's slip ups) when a pinked haired girl walked up to Ino, twisting her finger into the tan fabric of the front of her skirt.

"Umm…Ino can I talk to you?" she mumbled out shyly.

Hizou could practically see Ino's heart rate increase. She leaned over and whispered, "Go ahead, just meet me at the tea shop in thirty minutes." Hizou gave her daughter a kiss on her cheek as a vote for courage.

"Yeah Sakura," Ino spoke confidently despite her racing pulse (Oh yes, Hizou could see it picking up speed the more Ino stood there).

_Sakura huh? _Hizou thought with one last look at her daughter before she began to walk closer to the homely tea shop her and Ino adored. She asked for a table, with three chairs just in case, and sat and waited for her daughter's return which would be filled with good news, fast talking and hopefully one more in their midst.

Hizou brushed her blonde locks from her shoulders and smiled lightly to herself. They hadn't done half bad with Ino, in fact Hizou felt comfortable knowing that all Ino's thoughts and smiles were her own and were more real than anything the world had ever known.

_End of Choices_

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**A/N: **Yeah...so what did you think? Call me sick, call me twisted, call me what you will, my favorite part to write was when Ino was crying...Okay so that is strange but eh I am too. The whole reason I wrote this was one: because I needed practice with creating believable OC's and two: I adore the Yamanaka Clan SOOOOOOOO much!!

Tell me what you thought of it, I really need feedback on this one, it will affect the SasuNaru story...trust me.


	2. Maturity

**A/N: **Kay...So I WASN'T going to write another part to this story...but I had this stuck in my head so naturally it had to be written. This time around it's a little bit different. There are only like two events that coincide with one another in this story but that's okay because if all of them did it would be weird. If any of you readers and or reviewers have ideas for this then spit them out, maybe I'll write them. Eh, you never know.

**Story: **Told through Sakura's eyes about her mother and what it means to deviate from family ideals.

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Maturity

Sakura wasn't sure when she first told her parents that she wanted to be a ninja, but apparently they had listen. She was, after all, standing there, in front of the ninja academy at five-and-a-quarter years old. She made sure to add that 'and-a-quarter' to the end of her age, so as to appear more sophisticated, because of course the older you are (even if it was only by a quarter) the more sophisticated you are. Sakura wanted to be refined, and delicate, beautiful and giving, like her mother, so she walked modestly and smiled sweetly as her mother escorted her through the doors of the academy.

"Are you sure about this Sakura?" her mother asked in a concerned tone.

Sakura nodded and made a small "Mhm" sound to accompany her resolve. The grip on her hand tightened just a bit as they walked into the classroom, it was orientation day. There was a large banner hanging from the high ceiling of the first year's classroom. Sakura's brilliant eyes widened at the sight of the brilliant colors of the decorations. She wanted to go and touch all of the balloons and banners and streamers, in hopes of absorbing their honest beauty.

But she held onto her mother's hand and restrained herself like no other five (and-a-quarter) year old could. Sakura listened to the sounds of other soon-to-be students yelling and screaming up a storm and wished to join them but once again held back in order to prove herself mature and sophisticated. This was the moment in time, (if Sakura could somehow remember it) that could be to blame for the split and dishonesty in Sakura's personality.

* * *

When Sakura entered her second year at the academy she wasn't as graciously loved as she was her first year. It was like all of her old friends were scattered through out small cliques in the class and Sakura, with her homemade outfits and "huge" forehead, didn't seem to fit in anywhere. It was like she wondered around the comments and let them sting while she continued to inch closer to being a ninja. Ever time she climbed over the single step that led into her house she looked like her shoulders were lower and lower.

"Sakura?" her mother called from the kitchen.

"Yes mother?" Sakura called in response.

"Could you come help me with dinner?" she asked while her daughter's feet scraped against the ground as she got closer. "Lift your feet when you walk."

Sakura obediently picked her feet up and washed her hands to help with dinner. Her mother kept glancing sideways at Sakura, hoping to see her eyes light up with the innocence of youth, but the pink haired child only looked forlornly at the green onions she had to wash.

"So, how was your day at school Sakura?" she wondered hoping to pull the reason behind this sudden change out of her.

"It was fine mom," Sakura replied as she worked her hands over the vegetables.

"Really?" the mother inquired. "Anything new happen?"

Sakura muttered a string of broken phrases but refused to turn around to face her mother. She heard her mother ask if she was okay and then tell her not to rub the onions so hard. Sakura placed three clean onions on the counter next to her and grabbed two more while she silently let a few tears slip down her face. In place of the bulbs at the end of the onion's stalk were the faces of those _stupid _girls who day, after _friggin' _day, poked fun at her forehead (even after she hid it with her bangs) and gagged at her hand sewn clothing. Her mother asked her again to stop scrubbing the onions so hard, they hadn't done anything to her.

Sakura set the last two onions aside and told her mother that she had to do homework, of course without lifting her eyes to meet her mother. She remembered to lift her feet while she walked up the stairs, and let a stream of tears fall down her face while the harsh criticism piled up on her chest.

* * *

The next day those girls were particularly scathing in their comments about Sakura's forehead. Their words were more painful, more like they had taken a huge chunk out of her heart than just an inch of her self esteem. Normally Sakura was far too prideful to let them see her cry but today it was too hard to keep the sadness from gripping her. She tried to wait until she got home but Sakura barely made it through the lunch hour before she broke down. The girl slowly walked out farther than where the children normally played and sat down in the soft grass.

Her shaky hands plucked out emerald strands of grass. One by one the comments came back to her, blowing her already fragile self image to smithereens. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and soon the shame of being too weak to dam it up became too much. Her hands retreated from the grass and hid her shame, the tears falling into her green streaked fingers. Sakura bit her lip and wiped the river of sorrow with the back of her navy shirt.

_Gosh, you can hide the entire village behind Haruno's forehead! _

_Ha! Ha! I guess if Suna ever decides to attack us then we're covered right?!_

"Hey, are you alright?" a voice from just in front of her asked quietly. "Why're you crying?"

Sakura looked up through her fingers and through the curtain of ratty pink hair, "I-I…"

She could barely see the girl because of how bleary her eyes were, "You really shouldn't hide behind those bangs. They'll only make a bigger deal out of it."

The pink girl gawked at her, now she could clearly see that she had neatly cut blonde hair and heavenly blue eyes. But still the kindness in her voice made Sakura's seem nonexistent. The blonde haired girl stood there for a second and then placed her index finger to Sakura's "freakishly large" forehead and giggled as if it were adorable that Sakura was so modest and pliable.

"Show them that you're not ashamed of what you've got," she advised with a soft smile that Sakura had never been faced with.

Sakura nodded vigorously to show that she was listening to what this girl had to say. No one had ever said anything like this to her. Why did this girl care about what was wrong? It didn't make sense.

"Hey, what's your name?" she asked as she squatted down next to Sakura.

Temporarily Sakura's voice failed, coming out in a small squeak. But she regained it albeit with a stutter, "S-Sakura!"

"Mine is Ino," the girl replied with a light laugh to her voice.

That voice seemed to fill Sakura with the same light and she let a smile pass over her lips. Ino smiled at her again and then a light seemingly went off in her head. She jumped to her feet and messed up the top of Sakura's bright pink hair.

"Meet me here again tomorrow," Ino ordered with a wondering look on her face.

Sakura nodded again and clambered to her feet as well. Ino smiled again and scampered off towards the school yard. Sakura watched her run, wondering why Ino would need to see her again.

No matter the reason behind Ino's words Sakura couldn't sleep that night all the same. She kept turning over to work off the excitement and curiosity that was silently building up in her chest cavity. When she had told her mother about Ino, the woman had smiled down at her sadly and said that it was great that she was making friends. But Sakura wondered if this simple act of kindness would really create friendship…

* * *

"Okaaaaaay…" Ino stepped back, Sakura heard that much. "Now! Open your eyes Sakura!" she cheered excitedly.

Sakura's eyes fluttered to settle upon a very pleased Ino. She couldn't help but be filled with that same sunlight she encompassed so effortlessly.

"You have nothing to hide," Ino told her confidently. "That pretty girl was waiting for you to help her climb out."

Sakura smiled brightly and hugged Ino, profusely thanking her for what she had done. Who knew that a simple red ribbon would do so much for her? Ino hugged her back with a warm loving embrace and told her that it wasn't her; it was the beauty in Sakura that she had to thank.

The day went by with laughs between the two. It passed with compliments from Ino to Sakura and Ino defending Sakura because of those horrible popular girls.

Sakura practically danced through the door, her fingers twiddling the stiff ends of the ribbon in her hair. She twirled into the kitchen, where her mother was baking cookies for Sakura's class, it was her turn to provide the snacks for the younglings.

"You look happy today Sakura," she commented with a smile while she opened the door to the oven.

Sakura rocked back and forth on her heels, "I am mommy, very much."

The mother closed the heated oven, the scent of cookies escaping the metal in the process. She caught sight of the vermillion in her daughter's hair, "What a pretty ribbon, you look beautiful in it Sakura!"

"Ino said that too!" Sakura exclaimed in total innocence. "She said that it made me look so pretty!"

Her mother visibly stiffened at this, even for as young as Sakura was she saw this and knew that it was bad. Why would it make her mother stop moving? What had she said wrong?

"Really?" she practically choked out. "Did Ino give you the ribbon?"

"Yeah! She said that I could keep it!" Sakura stopped moving like her mother had. A part of Sakura said to just keep quiet and go upstairs but the other part told her to stay and see what mother was going to do.

"You know," the mom breathed out. "Red really isn't your color, don't wear that one anymore. How about I give you a purple one instead?"

Inside Sakura was saying that this was Ino's ribbon and she had entrusted it to Sakura, a purple ribbon wouldn't be a suitable replacement for it. She was sure that nothing would be a suitable replacement for such a token but she just nodded with a fake smile and rushed upstairs to do her homework.

The next day Sakura smuggled the red ribbon out in her pocket and raked the purple on out as soon as she was down the street from her house. The red one sat on her head gracefully and made her smile even bigger.

* * *

Sakura found it odd that her mother (whose name was Satchi she just recently found out) did not allow her to stay the night over at Ino's house but the girl was allowed over any time she wished to be over. Sakura wanted to see Ino's room, but did not dwell on being forbidden from it. Instead she had Ino over nearly every weekend and school holiday. But there was something about Satchi, Sakura's mother (boy was it weird to know that your mother had a name _other _than "mom") acted whenever Ino came over. It was like, she didn't like Ino.

Sakura noticed that her mom would barge in and hang out with the pair at regular intervals, barely giving them anytime alone. This really made Sakura made, and visibly made Ino mad, but the pinkette neither said nor raised a fuss against it. She simply allowed the intrusions with a fake smile every time. Ino however would ask here why she was there and then get mad when Satchi replied with "because I want to be here".

* * *

The day she told Ino that they shouldn't be friends anymore was a day that Sakura could never forget. The way Ino looked at her, like her heart was broken so easily, like glass, the way that Ino steeled her face not a second after and agreed full heartedly with what Sakura had said was something that couldn't be erased no matter what. But…it wasn't like Sakura had _wanted _to tell Ino that they couldn't be friends. It wasn't because she liked Sasuke and Ino did too. It wasn't because Sakura had grown tired of the girl (oh God no).

"_Mom…" Sakura cooed as the woman brushed out Sakura's matted hair before school. _

"_Yes Sakura?" she replied as she pinned Sakura's hair back with imaginary clips. It didn't matter what she did with her hair, for one reason or another she came back home with all of it out of her hair anyway. _

"_I like Ino," the eight year old said so resolutely. _

_Satchi's grip on the invisible clip tightened. Sakura knew that it was stupid to say this to her mother, she wasn't entirely sure what had possessed her to confess in the first place. Sakura knew deep down in her heart, even before she had started liking Ino, that her mother would not approve of this, yet here she was saying it like she was saying the weather. _

"_Me too, she's a sweet girl," her mother said, Sakura was positive she was just trying to play it off. _

"_No," Sakura corrected the woman like she was the older one here. "Not like that mom." _

_Satchi sighed and let the rose strands fall to Sakura's face, "Then I don't want you to see her anymore." _

_Sakura turned on her butt to face her mother, "What?!" she stumbled for coordination and clarity in her mind. "Why?! You can't do that!!" _

"_I'm not going to have this conversation with you Sakura," Satchi replied calmly. "I don't want you seeing Ino anymore. That's final." _

_So desperately had Sakura's mind grappled within her skull to argue back, to yell that it didn't matter what her mother said, that she was going to see Ino no matter what! Ha! Take that!_

"_And if I find out that you were disobeying me," Satchi began with unmistakable authority. "Then I will pull you out of the academy and put you into the civilian school." _

_Sakura was caught. She couldn't drop being a ninja, it was her dream, and if she was still in the same school then she could at the very least see Ino. Sakura bit her lip and stood up to go and put her shoes on. Her mother sat on the sofa in their living room and glared at the floor. Sakura glanced back at her, looking so much older than she really was and slid her feet into her shoes. _

Again Sakura was stuck with watching Ino's retreating back but this time she was positive that they weren't friends.

* * *

After the dissolution of their friendship Sakura continued to wear the silky red ribbon in her hair. Part of the reason behind this was in hopes of showing Ino that what she said was a _lie, _a big fat _lie, _and the other (since she had started wearing it in and around the house) was a silent rebellion in her mother's honor. In order to keep the act up Sakura began to use Sasuke as a medium to have some sort of contact with Sakura. She could fawn over him just as much as the other girls and she was so convincing that at one point (sometime after they were assigned to the same team she told herself) she was so sure that she was in love the Uchiha. But then Ino would saunter over and grab at Sasuke's attention and Sakura's heart would thud against her ribs so painfully.

* * *

Satchi was more than elated the day that Sakura had told her that she liked a boy. Sakura noted sourly that she was far too happy to hear this and it made her blood boil. What kind of mother is _like _that?! But she smiled and blushed and twisted her hair around her finger at all the right parts during their conversation.

* * *

The night that Sakura found out that Sasuke was gone and Naruto was going to leave as well she didn't come home right away. She chose to walk listlessly around the village in the settling cool of the night. Sakura would walk into dead ends and turn around with no concern for direction or bearings just concerned with the fact that she was moving, not staying still, not doing _nothing_. She was acting out the lost, abandoned feeling that plagued her insides and outsides.

"Sakura!" a girly vice called from behind her. "What are you doing out here at this hour?"

Sakura turned around and stared sorrowfully at Ino, who had called her, "I could ask you the same thing."

Ino approached her steadily, "I was just visiting Shikamaru at his house. What's your excuse?"

The other knew that Ino knew that Sakura felt like she'd been kicked in the ribs but she was dancing around the subject, so as not to agitate the wounds further. The two hadn't been on thick as thieves terms since their agreement all those years ago, but the fight between the two had brought them closer to being what they used to be. For this, more than anything, Sakura had been grateful.

"Just thinking," was her solemn reply as she rubbed her chilled arm absentmindedly.

"Yeah well, you can come think at my house," Ino offered with a friendly smile.

Sakura noticed it wasn't as radiant as the ones of their youth but it was none the less beautiful and well placed on her features. She nodded to concede to the proposal and Ino led the way.

On that night Sakura got to see the outside of Ino's house (both of her parents were sleeping right now so they couldn't go inside) for the first time in all of their years of on and off friendship. She learned that Ino understood more about the heart than anyone she knew and that Ino was surprisingly comforting when Sakura began to break down into a broken mess of a shattered girl. The way Ino held her and stroked her hair made her feel more like a home than that house she lived in ever could. It seemed like Ino was brushing the weight of the world off of Sakura's mind and was replacing it with sweet words of justification and praise (_It's not your fault, You're strong Sakura_). In one moment Sakura dazedly wondered why Ino didn't kiss her, the way she held her made a kiss seem well placed.

But no such thing happened. After Sakura could see straight she lifted her head and told Ino that she had to go home now, even though Ino was offering her a place to stay the night in (she'd just wake her parents up! It was no problem!) She had to, regrettably, turn her down and go home. Ino waved from the back porch and Sakura waved half heartedly back.

She got an earful when she got home. Sakura just took the scolding and then headed to her bed. That night she dreamt that starry skies were the only ones to judge who she was with.

* * *

At fifteen, and after many days and missions spent with Ino, Sakura was positive that she was _still _in love with Ino. The feeling had never left her. It only got slightly damaged over the years and ideals she had to travel through. Now, the only thing about this resurfacing of emotions was to let the one involved know about them.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught the sight of Ino talking happily to a woman beside her. There was no mistaking it. This woman was Ino's mother! The two looked so alike. The woman's blonde hair was in a low ponytail and it reached only the middle of her back. Her thin wrists, hourglass body shape and smile were all the same as Ino's!

Sakura had to gain her voice before she could shyly walk up to the two. She looked between the women and felt like she was in the presence of something amazing. Uncertainly she asked to talk to Ino and was soon walking through the village with her, spilling her feelings out step by step. When she was done telling Ino about what was on her mind and in her heart Ino grabbed Sakura's wrist and kissed her gently on the lips.

"You wanna get some tea with me and my mom?" Ino asked with the sun in her voice.

"Y-yeah," Sakura dizzily replied still recovering from the kiss.

The back of her mind was saying that her mother would NOT stand for this. But, for now she couldn't care any less than she already did. Ino kissed her, offered her tea and she was supposed to care about what her mother was going to say?! Not a chance!

Ino pulled her in the direction of the shop and Sakura _knew _she was going to get along much better with Ino's mother.

_End of Maturity_

* * *

**A/N: **So this was a practice with indirect OC's. Tell me how it went! -begs- I wanted to make Satchi some one that you wanted to yell at for being like that. There is paralellism between how open minded Hizou was and how close minded Satchi was that was the whole point of Satchi's personality. I wanna say that these two stories are sort of like...well my parents. My dad would be Hizou and my mom would be Satchi. Even though my dad doesn't exactly agree with homosexuality he's never forbidden it or told us what to think. My mom has always been there for us but when it comes to matters like this none of us (us being me and my two sisters) really see eye to eye with her.

So I hope you guys enjoyed that because I loved writing both of these. Again, if you've got any ideas, please TELL ME! Thanks!


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